Monthly Archives: December 2009

Uruguayan Music – General Introduction

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A Great Still Of One Of Our Main Squares, "Plaza Independecia"

A Great Still Of One Of Our Main Squares, "Plaza Independecia"

Despite being Uruguayan and having lived my whole life in the capital of the country (Montevideo), I do not have that much of a thorough understanding of local bands. That is probably because I was always more interested in English music. That is, I was keener on anything that was English-related when I was younger: books, music, TV shows… Now I have broadened the specter considerably.

In a certain sense, I think that most people go through something similar when they are young: they sort of reject the music from the place they live in, however good it is. I am sure that young people in Rome dislike the local scene, I am sure that youngsters in Berlin look askance at their own local bands, I know that there are young people in Buenos Aires that look elsewhere for their musical kicks. It is completely natural. When we are a certain age, we are bored with the world that surrounds us. A foreign sound is always more motivating. It speaks of another way of living and a different sense of freedom. That is invaluable when we are young and we feel that the world constricts us. Continue reading →

Some Gave All (Billy Ray Cyrus) – Album Review

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Billy Ray Cyrus' Debut Is Titled After The Words Of A Vietnam Veteran Named Randy Kane

Billy Ray Cyrus' Debut Is Titled After The Words Of A Vietnam Veteran Named Sandy Kane

Billy Ray Cyrus’s debut was first issued in 1992, and more than 15 years later it still retains a couple of significant records such as being the top-ranking album by a country male performer, and (most notably) the best selling debut album from a male artist – more than 20,000,000 copies have been sold worldwide. Of course, it is the album that has “Achy Breaky Heart” – for my take on the song and the impact it had on Billy’s career I direct you to the general introduction I posted yesterday. Three more singles were drawn from “Some Gave All”, and they all did pretty well on the charts – “Could’ve Been Me” hit number 2, actually. The other two singles were “She’s Not Cryin’ Anymore” and “Wher’m I Gonna Live” (they charted at #6 and #23 respectively).

Before being signed up, the consensus was that Billy was too much of a rocker for Nashville and too much of a country performer for LA. Leaving aside the monster hit of the record, that is something which comes across when you listen to the album. The songs are either full-on country (the vast majority of compositions) or unbridled rock numbers. Personally, I feel these rock cuts are fantastic, and they are the ones that stick in my mind after listening to the CD. I am surprised that “Never Thought That I’d Fall In Love With You” was not issued as a single – Mercury probably though that issuing three harder-rocking compositions could be counterproductive. The fact is that the song has a great guitar part throughout, and a drum track that shifts from accompanying to leading in a snap, then reverts itself again. I like the song as much as the achy breaky one, and the fact it was never overplayed is just a big plus. Continue reading →

Billy Ray Cyrus – General Introduction

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Billy Ray Cyrus Performing During The "Achy Breaky Heart" Days

Billy Ray Cyrus Performing During The "Achy Breaky Heart" Days

Success is not as simple or charming as it seems. Not necessarily a phenomenal bout of early success will mean that it is going to be a smooth ride from that point onwards. And I am sure few know that as well as Billy Ray Cyrus.

To the general public, he is always going to be associated with his monster hit from 1992, “Achy Breaky Heart”. As it is (very accurately) said elsewhere, it was to be the song that would make him and break him. The song must have been one of the most played tunes of the 90s. In South America, it was still being played like the first day well into 1995. And in the States, it caused a true mania that included an “Achy Breaky Dance” – the first time such a thing had happened with a country song. Continue reading →

Ooizit – A Social Networking Site For Musicians In The United Kingdom

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Ooizit

Name: Ooizit
URL: http://www.ooizit.com

You might wonder why are new social networks for musicians still being released when we have resources like MySpace available, and you have a point. But you must understand that to people located in specific parts of the world, the idea of networking locally is attractive by definition. That is, if they know the ones who are found within a given network share at least a certain geographical proximity, it is all the more enticing. The WWW has brought a whole elasticity when it comes to collaborating with others, yet if we were given the choice of collaborating over the Internet and doing it face to face then we all know which way we’d go. Continue reading →

Mock Tudor (Richard Thompson) – Album Review (Part 2)

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(The first part of this review can be read here)

The second section of the album (“Heroes in the Suburbs”) is the one that includes “Crawl Back (Under My Stone)”, “Uninhabited Man”, and “Walking The Long Miles Home”. These are an idiosyncratic reagge-ish number, a celtic-flavored composition and a song which is “a little bit country” respectively. I especially like “Crawl Back (Under My Stone)”, a number in which the character conveys as much self-esteem as it is necessary for him to achieve his aim – don’t be fooled, he is not as  innocuous as he might seem. And “Walking The Long Miles Home” has catchy choruses on the strength of the rhyme scheme that is employed. The lyric is funny, too.

This part of the album also has “Dry My Tears And Move On”, a song not dissimilar to a soul ballad that might as well have the best middle eight of the whole record. Continue reading →

Mock Tudor (Richard Thompson) – Album Review (Part 1)

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Richard Thompson's "Mock Tudor" Was First Issued In 1999. It is Spli In Three Parts That Chronicle Life In The Suburbs During The 20th Century.

Richard Thompson's "Mock Tudor" Was First Issued In 1999. It is Split In Three Parts That Chronicle Life In The Suburbs All Through The 20th Century.

Mock Tudor was Richard Thompson’s final album under his Capitol Records’ contract. It was released in 1999, and it was the one album of the decade not produced by Mitchell Froom, the man who is known for his glossy approach to record-making. That is always a recurrent point when the album is discussed. The fact remains that Thompson is a gritty performer, and a rawer approach for capturing him in action always works best.

That is exemplified by the first three tracks, two of which were issued as singles (the polka “Cooksferry Queen” and “Bathsheba Smiles”), and that stand as very fine vignettes about outlaws and people who walk the line. “Cooksferry Queen” paints the picture of an outright ruffian that is transfixed by love, putting himself at the mercy of the other – as Yasu, the leader of the band Black Stones (or “Blast”) from the anime “Nana” used to say, those who once laughed at love will cry because of it in the end.

And “Batsheba Smiles” is a very pointed portrait of a woman akin to Coleridge’s Christabel, IE the kind of woman that is always there for everybody but never there for any person in particular. The chorus of the song is specially powerful, with the “Do you close your eyes to see miracles/Do you raise your face to kiss angels/Do you float on air to hear oracles” section showcasing the effects such a person has on others, and how initial admiration turns into bitterness very quickly indeed. Continue reading →

Face Dances (The Who) – Album Review (Part 2)

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(Check out the introduction to this review here)

Face Dances is a record which can be described very easily: it is an album of rock songs that have been produced and treated as if they were pop tunes. That certainly posed a problem for many fans that were expecting another Who’s Next, yet they were more or less appeased by the lead single, “You Better You Bet”. That song alone revived a lot of interest in the band, and it was to be their last stronghold in terms of chart performance. The other single was “Another Tricky Day”, and both the two singles and the poppy “Don’t Let Go The Coat” had some weird accompanying promos where the tempos were all sped up (!). I am not kidding:

Ah, “Don’t Let Go The Coat”. That was one of the very first Who tracks I listened to, actually, and I must say that it has an incredible catchy quality. The song deals with Pete’s faith on Meher Baba – the Avatar had once instructed his followers to “grab to the hem of my robe”. It is traditionally regarded as one of Pete’s most charming songs on the subject (and he wrote quite a few tunes about that), and while some have misgivings about Roger’s interpretation I couldn’t disagree more. He does the song splendidly, reaching the climax during the middle eight and ad libbing excellently during the fade. If you want to listen to Pete’s own take you have to go for the first album devoted to rarities he released, “Scoop”. Different interpretations, same great song and same great way to communicate faith on life in general, not just faith when it comes to a single person or leader. Continue reading →

Face Dances (The Who) – Album Review (Part 1)

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The Cover Of The Who's Face Dances Was Devised By Peter Blake (He Who Designed The Cover Of Sgt. Pepper's). He Approached 15 DIfferent Artists To Paint The Canvasses.

The Cover Of The Who's Face Dances Was Devised By Peter Blake (He Who Designed The Cover Of Sgt. Pepper's). He Approached 15 DIfferent Artists To Paint The Canvasses You Can See.

After the loss of Keith Moon, The Who decided to take the one gamble that was left and carry on the best way they could, in loving memory of Keith and in loving memory of all the ideals they had stood for. Was “the best way” recruiting former Faces compadre Kenny Jones? That is debatable ad infinitum, of course. On the one hand, Jones was a strict time keeper. He was the polar opposite of Keith, and that was one of the reasons he was chosen as his successor, actually. Pete declined Ginger Baker’s offer to be their new drummer if only because he was as troublesome a character as Moon. Also, John relished having the chance to have a less frantic drummer setting the beat for a change. They first had worked with Kenny during the Tommy soundtrack, and they had gotten along with him well professionally. And they had known him on a personal level for much longer, obviously.

The one person that definitely opposed to Kenny’s addition as a full-time member of the band was Roger. He was keener on rotating drummers until arriving at the suitable one. Pete claimed that such a thing would turn everything into “a pilgrimage to find Keith”, and that is why Kenny was eventually instated as their new (and definitive) drummer. Continue reading →

Month In Review – November 2009

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Obviously, the star of this month for me was the release of my first book of poetry and words for music, “Once”. You can read what literature teacher Fabián Severo had to say about it at the launch event here, and also my own speech by following this link.

When it came to artists added to the blog, these included Television and The Dukes Of Stratosphear. The review of Television’s debut (“Marquee Moon”) has actually become one of the most popular posts of MusicKO, and I am very proud of that article on a personal level. Continue reading →